Symbiosis
by Abigail Emery
Summary: Stella and Grace have never really got along, so what happens when they're forced to work closely together when taken hostage? - Check out the sequel!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Guys, a security alarm just went off at a building in the warehouse district—third time this week. You wanna go check it out?" Leon directed the information to Josh and Grace, who were making conversation by the desks behind Leon's workstation.

Stella looked up from the paperwork she was sorting through. She'd been to that warehouse the last two calls and there had been nothing there, the place was abandoned.

"Yeah, sure," Grace got up from her chair, followed by Josh.

"Hey, mind if I come?" Stella didn't miss the annoyed, quiet sigh and slumped shoulders from Grace.

Josh briefly looked at Grace before nudging his head towards the doorway, "Come on."

Stella smiled and followed them.

The car ride was uncharacteristically silent, and from the back seat Stella watched as Josh and Grace exchanged multiple glances. Stella scoffed and looked out the window; clearly, they were not hiding anything.

"What?" Grace asked, looking at Stella in the rear-view mirror.

"Nothing."

"What?" Grace asked more forcefully. "If you have something to say, say it."

Stella just shook her head and continued looking out the window.

When they arrived at the warehouse, everything was quiet. There were no signs of a break in, nor any kind of suspicious activity.

"It's probably just some teen dickheads messing around. There's nothing here," Josh commented.

Stella looked around, "We should still check it out. Something's gotta be setting this alarm off."

Josh let out a stubborn sigh, "Okay, fine, we'll split up then. You and Grace head inside and I'll take a look outside. Radio if you find anything."

Stella and Grace made their way towards the front entrance, neither saying a word. Stella was tempted to say a few things—unwanted opinions and comments—but purposefully chose not to start anything up, knowing there was a time and place but this was not it.

"You go left, I'll go right," Grace said.

"Yep," Stella agreed, turning into the corridor before she said something inappropriate. She cleared several offices before entering the large, open warehouse at the back. She walked towards the middle and swivelled around, getting a good view of the empty area. The only thing in the room were several low stacks of boxes. It was all clear, same as last time. Maybe Josh was right about it just being some kids messing around.

It was when she had almost reached the exit that a noise echoed around the high ceiling room behind her and made her stop. She turned around with her hand on her holstered gun, expecting to see something, but nothing was there. She walked in the direction it came from, some of the boxes, and reached for her radio.

"Stop right there."

Stella froze at the voice behind her, resisting the urge to spin around and look at the person. Instead, she discreetly unclipped her holster while slowly turning her head.

"Don't move!" It was a guy, tall and muscular, his face obscured by the shadow of a navy hoodie. He was pointing a gun at her, but his hand shook with sporadic tremors. Forgetting her own firearm, Stella took the opportunity and spun around fully, lurching at the guy that was no more than a couple of meters away, swiftly twisting his wrist away from her, grabbing the top of the gun, and pulling, disarming him within a few seconds. The guy stood there looking stunned, his hands in the air.

"Turn around. Get on your knees," Stella instructed.

"I'd advise you to do the same," a cocky male voice said from behind her.

Stella inwardly let out a groan. Of course it couldn't be that easy. Before she got the chance to look over her shoulder at the perpetrator, she felt the barrel of a gun press into the base of her neck.

"Drop the gun," the man said.

Stella hesitated, quickly assessing her options. Being held at gunpoint didn't leave her with many choices, and she figured Grace and Josh would come looking for her when she didn't meet up with them outside, and she hoped that would be at any moment. She put her hands up in defence and lowered the gun to the ground.

"And your gun," the man said.

She made a move to turn around in protest, but the man let out a noise of disapproval and the gun was pushed harder into her back. Reluctantly, Stella pulled her gun from its holster and put it on the ground next to the other, and the tall and muscular guy picked them both up.

"What do you want?"

"You'll find out soon," his voice was chilling, and he sounded confident, much unlike the other guy.

"My team is right outside, they'll be here any moment."

"I'm counting on it."

"If you leave now, you might stand a chance."

"I'm not interested in leaving just yet."

"What?" Stella was confused, she didn't understand his motives. He was all but asking to be caught by the police.

Suddenly, there was a voice in her ear, and not from the man behind her. It was Grace, asking where she was and to hurry up. She stopped herself before she reached to respond by habit. Within a few moments she could hear movement from behind the main door.

"Shh, shh," the man said.

Then the door opened, and an unbeknownst Grace walked in. She saw Stella and halted immediately, reaching for her gun.

The man pulled Stella roughly into him, putting his arm around her neck, and the gun was pressed to the side of her head. "Don't move or I'll shoot."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi hello there! Thanks for reading! Most importantly, I'd like to start by thanking insanedairyfarmer to the absolute max, this fic would be a terrible mess without her amazing help!**

 **Now I've actually completed this fic before I decided to publish, so you'll be happy to know that I'll be able to post chapters faster and without delay! Yay! Over the next week or two I'll sporadically upload them. I'm a **lso uploading it onto AO3** **if that's your preferred site**. As usual, pretty please review (but only if you want to), it makes me feel loved :) **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I'd think twice about shooting me if I were you," the man continued as he pulled Stella across to give himself more cover. "Wouldn't want to shoot your colleague."

"Why don't you just let her go and we can talk," Grace tried.

"I don't want to talk."

"What is it that you want then?"

"You'll find out soon."

That was the same answer he gave Stella, and she could only assume the worst. There was something about the way he said it, how the air around her felt stuffy and like it was closing in around her. She had a bad feeling.

Behind her, she felt the man give a small nod, and then everything happened so fast. The tall and muscular guy jumped from behind some stacked boxes—Stella was far too preoccupied seeing Grace come through the door and never having felt so happy to see her, that she hadn't even noticed the guy had hidden.

"Don't move!" he said, aiming both his gun and Stella's Glock at Grace.

Stella struggled against the man's grip, but his arm was like steel, not budging. "Grace, leave."

Grace did a double take at Stella before shaking her head. "Just drop the guns and let her go."

"How about _you_ drop the gun," the tall and muscular guy said, gesturing a gun in the direction of the ground.

"I can't do that," Grace responded.

"Don't do it," Stella said quietly, her teeth gritted.

"Drop it now," the man behind her said, and he lowered the gun to Stella's side, just below the Kevlar vest where it would get a clean shot, "Or this one gets a hole through her."

"Drop the weapon, now!" Grace's voice was stern as she aimed at the man, but it did nothing to persuade him.

Stella closed her eyes miserably when she heard the safety click off, and she felt compelled to hold her breath in anticipation.

"Put it down," it was unsettling how calm this man's voice remained.

"Grace, don't." Stella flinched when the gun dug into her side. She could feel her heart beat in her ears, and the blood rush from her face, when Grace's demeanour changed and she started gradually lowering her gun. Stella shook her head wildly, unable to speak. As soon as that gun was lowered they lost all control. "Grace..." her voice was low, warning.

Grace didn't look at Stella as she slowly put her gun on the ground and raised her hands. Grace started to make a move in a discreet attempt to make a call on her radio. Stella wasn't sure what was happening with the man behind her and if he saw it, but the other guy was barely paying attention as he put one of the guns he was holding into the waistband of his pants in preparation of retrieving Grace's, and he didn't seem to notice her slow movements. Stella could hear the moment she pressed the button, a soft click travelling through the air, which also all too soon alerted the tall and muscular guy into noticing, and he quickly took action. Happening within a mere few seconds, two large steps and he was beside her, looking much bigger than she'd originally thought, and the butt of his gun came down hard on the back of Grace's head.

"No!" Stella blurted as she watched Grace fall to the ground in an unconscious heap. Overwhelmed and forgetting all her training, she simply tried pulling away from the man to get to Grace, but like before, that proved useless. The tall and muscular guy quickly picked up the gun Grace had put down, and then reached into his back pocket, tossing a couple of zip ties to the man.

"Get it done quickly," the man said to the tall and muscular guy as he finally released his hold on Stella, only to push her forward, take off her vest, and bring her arms behind her to tie her wrists together. The tall and muscular guy ripped Grace's radio off, removed her vest, and unclipped her duty belt before flipping her onto her front and binding her hands behind her. He then lifted her up like she was as light as a feather and threw her over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Stella asked, turning around and actually seeing the man for the first time. His hair was close cropped and greying, and his eyes dark. Much the same as with Grace, the man took her radio and duty belt off before pushing her forward to walk to the back exit. "Where are you taking us?" she tried again after not getting an answer. She turned her head, and saw he was holding a gun at her again. He gave a shove to her shoulder, and she kept walking.

There was a small window of opportunity to get out of this mess, to take down at least one of the guys and alert Josh of what was happening, but she didn't want to risk one of them getting away with Grace on her own, especially in her condition, and as frustrating and hard as it was, she kept following the tall and muscular guy in front of her.

The door led straight outside, the light glaringly bright in contrast to the dimly lit warehouse, and Stella half expected to see Josh there. Instead, she was greeted with a musty smell and the noise from a nearby freeway or busy road. There was a grey sedan strategically parked behind a dumpster, and once they got to the car, the tall and muscular guy opened the boot. Stella knew what was going to happen next, and she started frantically looking around for Josh—for anyone—but there was no one around. There was no view to where they were from the front of the building or the street, and even then it was a quiet area. She just hoped Josh was getting suspicious and would come looking, reaching them before they left.

Having been distracted, Stella was taken aback when she heard a thump from the car, and looked to see Grace, still unconscious, lying in the boot. Without warning, she herself was all but picked up and thrown in next to her. "Hey. Hey! No! Stop!" but she was cut off by the boot slamming shut, and she automatically curled into herself and flinched away. She stayed still for a moment, and an eerie silence filled the air. She could feel Grace behind her, and she couldn't help but try to nudge her away in such a small space. The car rumbled to life, and the momentum of the careless reversing and then accelerating tossed the two into each other. After a while, a grunt came from Grace.

"Grace?"

There was nothing but the noise from the running engine for a few moments, and then Grace started moving, and her breathing got heavy and erratic, like she was panicking.

"Grace. Grace!" Stella tried, "Grace, hey—ow!—stop moving! We're in the back of a car."

"What?" she sounded confused.

"Those guys, they tied us up and put us in the boot," Stella explained. "How's your head?"

"It's fine," Grace replied, sounding distracted. After a few moments she quickly added, "Does Josh know what happened?"

"No, I don't think your boyfriend knows," Stella couldn't help herself. She'd kept it bottled up for long enough.

"He's not my boyfriend," Grace sighed, a mixture of annoyance and pain. "Does _anyone_ know what happened?"

Stella shook her head, even though it was pointless in the dark. "I don't think so."

There was silence between them for several seconds before Stella piped up. "I hope you know this is all your fault."

"How is this my fault?" Grace scoffed.

"Because I'm not the one who gave up her only source of hope and got herself jumped."

"And I'm not the one who got into this mess in the first place."

"If you hadn't have given up your gun, we wouldn't even be in this situation."

"If I didn't, you'd probably be lying in a pool of your own blood by now," Grace countered.

"Well at least Josh would've heard the shot and would've come to help take these guys down. That's if he wasn't too busy thinking of ways to ruin his career by dating a co-worker."

"Don't bring Josh into this, Stella, he didn't even know what was going on."

"Clearly, otherwise we wouldn't be in here right now because he'd have gone all Rambo on their arse to save his girl."

"He's not my boyfriend! I'm not his girl!"

"Even your own husband can see what's going on, Grace!"

Each time they spoke, their voices got louder and had raised to yelling. Stella knew she'd crossed the line as soon as she said it, but it took her a few seconds to apologise. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Does he really know?" Grace sounded hurt, though curious.

Stella fought back the urge to call her out on basically admitting she was having an affair. "I don't know. I just said it because I was mad," although they were far from friends, she still sugar coated it while simultaneously dodging the truth.

There was silence again. When she thought about it, Stella didn't know why she kept dissing Grace, especially when she didn't do it to Josh as well. Even though she didn't agree with what they were doing, she knew you couldn't help your feelings.

"Did you know about that second guy before I came in?" Grace asked quietly.

Stella groaned, remembering how stupid she was for not paying proper attention. "Yes. But believe it or not, I've never been more happy to see you, so forgive me if I forgot to mention the other guy," her answer came out defensive.

Surprising her, Grace didn't get frustrated. "I suppose we'd still end up being in a similar situation anyway."

"So how do we get out of this one?" Stella pulled against her bindings, testing them for what felt like the hundredth time. "Can you get out of the ties?"

There was movement behind her, and then a defeated sigh, "No."

"Can you turn around? Maybe I can try yours."

The enclosed space was unforgiving, mostly for Stella who was unintentionally pushed and kicked several times in the process. Finally, Grace had turned and they were back to back. Stella fumbled in the darkness to find Grace's hands and the zip ties, and then tried to put her fingernail underneath the tab of one of the ties. She attempted to push the tie back through the feed, but the zip ties on her own wrists were digging in, feeling like they were grinding into her skin. She tried again, but her fingernail kept slipping off the tab and she couldn't hold it up without the binds cutting into her. Stella let out a heavy, painful sigh, shaking her head. "I can't do it."

"Let me try." Grace found her hands and attempted to do the same. She wasn't sure if it was just because her wrists were more sensitive from the constant rubbing of the plastic, but she was sure Grace tightened them instead. "I'm sorry, they're too tight. I can't."

"Shit," Stella wasn't sure if there was anything they could do but wait. She had no idea why she and Grace were kidnapped, what these guys wanted, where they were going. From the travel time she estimated, she assumed they were outside the city, or at least close to it. The ride had become more smooth with less stopping, and there weren't as many vehicle noises.

They were getting farther away from help, and if they were going to get out of this situation, she and Grace would have to work together, however painful that may be.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"How's your head?"

"You've already asked that."

It had been no longer than an hour since the city noises had dissipated, and their talk of possible escape routes and ways to negotiate when they were faced with their captors had dwindled. With nothing else to do or nowhere to go, her mind kept replaying the cracking sound as the gun hit Grace's head.

"I know, but I don't need you passing out while we're trying to find a way out of this."

"I just have a headache, that's all. Nothing serious."

Before Stella got the chance to answer, she felt the car coming to a gentle stop. Despite it being dark, she looked around expectantly while trying to listen to what was happening outside. There were footsteps against loose gravel coming around from both sides of the car, and then the boot was opened, the light from the overcast sky blinding. When her eyes finally adjusted, she was already being pulled out. Her legs almost didn't hold her weight up, being crammed in a tight space for so long, and her left arm had gone numb from lying on it and it felt foreign. She quickly steadied herself and turned to Grace, who was being pulled out by the tall and muscular guy. "Careful," she warned.

A hand on her shoulder directed her towards a log cabin. It looked even more run down than the warehouse they had been in; the exterior looked as though it could fall apart at any given moment, and there were layers of unkempt brush that almost blocked the entrance. As Stella glanced behind her, she noticed the narrow driveway that led through tall trees and rounded off to the side. She hoped that Leon knew what had happened and had therefore followed them as far as he could, because finding this place would be next to impossible, especially when it blended in with the surrounding woods. There was also another car parked in the small clearing, but it looked just as old and decrepit as the cabin itself, and the roof and metal finishes of the once red vehicle were faded and rusty.

The man stopped Stella just before the door and stepped ahead of her to knock twice. Stella's heart rate sped up; knocking meant someone else was there, which also meant she and Grace would be outnumbered. The door opened and a dark haired guy who was smoking answered. All he did was hold the door open, and the man reached back to grab Stella's arm.

"Come on." He steered Stella through the door and down a short hallway, leading to an open room at the back. In one corner there was a small kitchenette with tacky brown and red countertops, and a round table to the side. Sitting at the table was another guy, wearing a black beanie and a white muscle tee. They were certainly outnumbered now. Stella was directed passed an old, ratty couch to the other side of the room, which was bare, bar the outdated box TV mounted to the wall, high in the corner. All the windows had closed, faded curtains, and the cabin smelt like a mixture of cigarette smoke and staleness.

"Turn around," the man said, nudging his head.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

The man reached around Stella and grabbed her hands, spinning her around. Stella held her breath as she heard something metallic flick open, and then felt its cold metal against her skin between the zip ties. Her wrists felt relief when they broke free, and she tried to ignore the newfound throbbing as she carefully rubbed the area.

The man pushed down on her shoulder, "Sit." He then went over to Grace and cut her free, too, before guiding her to sit next to Stella. "Stay down and don't move."

When the man had crossed to the other side of the room to converse with the others, Grace asked Stella in a quiet voice, "Did you see the bathroom in the hallway had a window? I think we could squeeze through."

"We? Might wanna rethink that plan because they're not going to let us go to the bathroom together."

"One of us can get out and call for help."

"I'm sorry but did you not look around? We're in the middle of nowhere, Grace. God knows if there's a main road around let alone people or a phone."

"Ugh, can you just stop nitpicking everything I say? I just want to get out of this alive."

Stella paused, thinking. Once again, she remembered that she had no other choice but to work together with Grace. She let out a disgruntled huff. "Sorry. I'll try harder not to." She watched the men sitting at the table. They looked so relaxed and nonchalant. Why were they just sitting there and not doing anything? "What do you think they have planned for us?"

Grace shrugged, "I don't know. Holding us for ransom? Want revenge, maybe? Piss anyone off lately?"

"Besides you?" Stella quipped. She didn't miss the playful scoff from Grace. "Well, they've gotta do something soon. Leon's probably tracing his way here right now."

"I hope so."

—

It had been less than half an hour when there was movement in the cabin again. One of the new guys had left the room and come back with a camera, setting it up on a tripod. The man who Stella assumed to be the leader, the one with the close cropped and greying hair, dug through a backpack and handed something to the other new guy. Stella tried to remain calm as the tall and muscular guy strode over, creating a shadow over them.

"You," he motioned at Grace, "Get up."

Stella looked at Grace, waiting to see what she did before making her own move. Grace glanced at Stella before slowly standing up. Without the guy giving her further instructions, Grace could only stand there, but that was quickly rectified when, without warning, he took a swing at Grace, leaving her no time to react. She barely managed to stay on her feet.

"Hey!" Stella sprung up from the floor and lunged at the guy without thought, but he was swift to stop her in her path. Stella was hardly able to register what happened as things progressed when an elbow to the face sent her flying into the wall, knocking the wind out of her. Momentarily dazed, she vaguely heard someone shout something incoherent. Instinctively, she brought her hand up to her cheek to check for blood, but thankfully there was none. Although, it did feel at least four times painfully larger than normal. As she tried to steady her breathing, she looked up from the ground to see the man with a gun to Grace's head, and the tall and muscular guy pointing a gun down at herself.

"Don't try anything like that again or next time you might not be so lucky," the man said. After a moment, he lowered the gun, "Now stand against the wall. We're going to make a video."

Stella took Grace's outstretched hand to help her up, and when Stella looked at her to thank her, she saw the faint bruising starting to form around her eye and temple that would soon replace the angry red.

Things started to add up now, starting with the remote location they were brought to, and Grace being hit; it wasn't uncommon for hostages to be bloodied for the camera. They planned this well. They were being held for ransom.

With one of the new guys taking up position behind the camera, the other put on a black ski mask. The man was dictating them next to the camera, the gun visible as he crossed his arms. The guy with the mask stepped in front of the camera, and when the one behind the camera gave a nod, he started talking.

"As you can see, we have two of your officers hostage. In exchange for their lives, we want $500,000 within the next 24 hours. Put the money in a bag in locker number 6 at the gym on Fifth and Connor and we'll release the hostages. We are armed and clearly have no problem in harming them, so if you try anything or the money is not there, bad things will happen. Time isn't something you nor your officers here have much of right now..." He finished by repeating: "You have 24 hours."

As he spoke, he made sure to move to the side several times to show off Stella and Grace. The guy behind the camera took it off the tripod and went down the hall, followed by the guy who wore the mask.

The man strolled across to the pair with the tall and muscular guy in tow. Stella suspected the latter was just for show, with his muscles' muscles having muscles, since it looked like half the time he didn't know what he should be doing. "That was good. If your fellow officers do what we want, you won't have anything to worry about."

"What you're asking is pretty big. I'm not sure it can be done in time. Why don't you just let us go now before you send the video and the courts might be lenient," Grace suggested.

"Oh, blondie, it's too late for that. I know what we're getting into and nothing is going to change the plan. Everyone's going to cooperate and we're getting the money, and I'm sure you'll be on your way tomorrow. Just sit back down and be quiet, both of you."

Stella slid down the wall and rested her arms on her knees. Although she didn't know what was going to happen, she did know her team would do everything they possibly could to meet their kidnapper's demands to free them. All Stella—and Grace—could do was wait and hope for the best.

* * *

 **Billy1990ism** \- haha well thank you! :D


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Daylight was fading. The lights above them were on, and did nothing to even trick the room into feeling warmer. Stella looked up at the two guys who had already been at the cabin when they arrived. They were sitting at the table watching the TV above them on a low volume. The man and the tall and muscular guy had disappeared elsewhere in the small cabin, and it seemed like they were taking shifts watching her and Grace. Stella didn't want to think about it, but if things went downhill then dealing with only two guys at a time would be much more in their favour than four.

One of the guys looked at his watch before getting up and crossing the room. "Bathroom?" They had been kind enough to let them have regular bathroom breaks while they'd been there.

"Yeah," Stella nodded, and when she stood, her body felt stiff and strained. She followed the guy through the hall and walked into the bathroom.

"Two minutes," he said.

Stella nodded once, switching the light on and closing the door.

—

Stella let the cold water flow over the abraded skin on her wrists, trying to ignore the stinging and focusing more on the numbness that was soon to come. She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror, not expecting to see the red mark with surrounding light bruising on her cheek bone. It didn't look anywhere near as bad as it felt.

She looked across to the window and thought how quick and easy it would be to just climb out and run. Just like the other opportunity she'd had earlier that day when they were in the warehouse. If she had escaped, she would've found Josh and they would've gone after them, alerting the rest of their team of what was happening so they could take proper action.

She turned the tap off and tried not to think about it, it would only make things worse. She dried her hands on her shirt and instead of leaving the bathroom she looked around. While she was still in there and not being watched, she could look around for something to use as a weapon should she need it. She was sure they would've heard the running water so she wouldn't have much time.

The modest bathroom had an all-in-one shower and bath, a toilet, and hand basin, as well as a freestanding cabinet against the wall. The vent-style front showed there was nothing in there—it probably housed towels and linen when it was actually being used as a house instead of a kidnapper's den. On either side of the mirror there were wall mounted cabinets, and there were only a couple of half empty bottles of hair products inside them. She checked under the sink next. There were several bathroom amenities, and as she was trying to quietly move them around to get a better look inside, she knocked a canister to the floor. The crash when it hit the black and white tiles startled her, even when she knew it was coming. She held her breath, waiting for someone to come barging in. She quickly picked the canister up and put it back on the shelf when something metallic caught her eye. It was a pair of tweezers.

The door came flying open, and seconds before shooting up Stella swiftly reached in and grabbed them, tucking them in her hand behind her back.

"What are you doing?" the guy almost yelled, looking mad.

Inside, Stella was screaming, but she kept a straight face. "I was looking for tampons. It's that time of the month," Stella had to fight back the sly grin at her quick wit and easy lie, as well as the guy's expression—anger to embarrassment in surprising subtlety. "But you don't have any, so..." Stella didn't wait for him to reply, she just walked straight passed him and slipped the pair of tweezers into her pocket.

—

"What happened? I heard the yelling," Grace asked when Stella returned.

"Nothing. I was looking around and found this," a quick glance told her they weren't being looked at, and Stella pulled the improvised weapon out just enough for a peek. "Tweezers. The guy walked in and almost caught me. I told him I was looking for tampons."

"Nice," Grace nodded with a grin.

"Right? It's not like it's the best of weapons. But it's better than nothing."

After a few hours, one of the guys got up and opened a cupboard in the kitchenette. He pulled out a packet of crackers, putting the whole thing on a plastic plate and taking it over to them. "Dinner is served," he said. Stella couldn't help but scoff and shake her head at the pathetic effort. Nevertheless, her rumbling stomach was more than grateful.

While Stella and Grace ate the crackers, they quietly discussed escape strategies, should they need them. Stella wasn't the only one to notice their captors were taking shifts, Grace did, too, and they figured their best way of escaping would be to quietly take down the two on watch, then sneak out and take their chances, otherwise immobilize the other two before making a run for it. Soon enough they'd come across a road and cars, or even a house or town.

It was tempting to simply take action then, but judging by their previous encounters, the two original guys were strong and had experience, and there was a chance that if things didn't work in their favour, one of them could get seriously hurt. Part of Stella said it was worth it—she didn't really want to spend the remainder of the 24 hours on edge, not knowing what would happen next, or if it would be as simple as letting them go once they received the money. But they didn't seem to be in any immediate sense of danger so they decided to keep that plan in their back pocket. Besides being knocked about for the ransom video earlier, they were given food and water and bathroom breaks and were otherwise left alone.

Stella put her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. She could vaguely hear the news playing on the TV above them. She half expected to hear something about two missing police officers, but political jargon and sports were the only things that came on. She tried to picture herself being at her place, sitting on the couch in the comfort of her own home with said television on in the background. Except this couch wasn't soft and warm nor comfy, it was hard and cold.

Apart from the low noise from the TV, the cabin was quiet, and for the first time since being there, she noticed a clock ticking. She looked around and saw one on the wall above the kitchenette. Straining to see the hands in the near darkness with the lights turned out, it read 12:55. No wonder she was so tired, her day had started almost 18 hours ago. She wanted to stay alert in case anything happened, but her eyes were heavy. She tried to stay awake as long as possible, but eventually sleep took over.

—

Stella awoke with a start to something crashing. She looked around, startled. The morning light was seeping through the cracks in the curtains and was casting orange rays on the otherwise still room. She looked across to Grace, who seemed unaffected by the noise and was still sleeping soundly; she had sunken to the point of lying on the floor, using her arm as a pillow. Stella then heard someone curse lightly in a deep voice. It came from the other side of the room. She rolled onto her knees to see over the couch dividing the room, and saw the tall and muscular guy crouched on the floor over broken glass. The man wasn't in the room, and while she wondered where he was, she thought she could use this moment to attempt to talk to this guy alone, to make a connection. Stella thought he would be the safest of the four to be around as well, because it seemed like he was the one that was pushed around the most, and despite him actually being the one to have injured her and Grace previously, he'd been ordered to, or at least inflicted, by the leader.

Stella calmly walked over, and to her surprise he didn't make an effort to stop her or tell her to go back. "Do you need any help?" she asked, crouching down anyway. She started to collect the larger pieces of glass from what would've been a tumbler into a pile. He looked at her but didn't say anything. Now up closer, she saw there was blood on his hand and a couple of small chips of glass inside the wound. "You're bleeding," she noted.

He looked at his hand, and then in the direction of the hallway, "You shouldn't be over here."

Ignoring him, she said, "I have first aid training, I can take a look at it if you want."

"It's fine. I'll take care of it later."

Stella expectantly glanced towards the hallway, but then started to collect the smaller pieces of glass. She wasn't finished talking to him. "You don't have to do this. You could just let us go, look the other way. What happens if you don't get the ransom money, huh? Your buddy will probably kill us. Do you really want to be an accessory to murder?" Stella wished Grace had done the negotiating instead because her argument wasn't exactly compelling.

"Look, you just need to go sit back down now. You shouldn't even be talking to me."

Stella leaned in closer, "What are you afraid of? You're huge, you can defend yourself; you pack a mean punch," she pointed out, gesturing between her face and the direction of Grace.

He sheepishly looked away, and when he stood to put the glass in the bin, Stella stood, too. She wasn't about to give up trying to persuade him.

"What's going on here?"

Stella almost dropped the handful of glass from surprise. The man was standing in the threshold of the hallway.

"I-We were. Cleaning up. She dropped a glass when she was bringing it over." The tall and muscular guy tripped over his words, not expecting him to return when he did, as did Stella.

Stella looked at him and frowned at his lie, but ruled it down to him protecting his own arse. She expected the worst when the man started to stroll over towards them, and resisted the urge to take a step back.

"Get back over there," despite the order, he sounded suspicious.

Stella quickly disposed of the glass in the bin next to the counter and went back to their spot by the wall, where Grace, who had woken up, was watching curiously over the couch.

"And you, go get cleaned up."

At first, Stella didn't think anything of it, but as she sat down, she realised he'd told the tall and muscular guy to clean his wound, which would require tweezers to remove the small shards, and the tweezers were no longer in the bathroom, instead sitting snugly in her pocket. Her heart beat against her chest, and Grace asked if everything was okay.

"He's gonna know the tweezers are missing," she told Grace.

"What?" Panic was evident in Grace's voice.

"He's gonna find out we took them," she looked at Grace. "He cut himself, he'll need the tweezers to get the glass out. What do we do? You're the team leader here. _Lead_."

"Me—? You seem to have been handling this pretty well so far."

"Grace!" Stella exclaimed quietly, not wanting to veer off subject. "What, do we pose a bathroom emergency and get him out before he looks for it? Ugh," she sighed heavily, "Who am I kidding, he's probably looking in there right now."

"Look, maybe he doesn't even know they were there in the first place. He might not notice."

"Shit," Stella shook her head. Somehow, she felt that wasn't true. Everything had been well planned so far, and she didn't expect something as small as not knowing what was inside cabinets to get by them, especially the leader. "He's the weak link," she pointed out. "Maybe he won't say anything."

"That's if he knows they were meant to be there. Just relax, all we can do is wait and see what happens."

Stella tried to take her advice to just relax; after all, they were just tweezers, they wouldn't do much damage—they weren't even sharp.

Soon enough, the tall and muscular guy reappeared. He didn't say a word to the man nor confront the pair. Stella couldn't completely see his wound from where she was, but it seemed like he'd cleaned it up without issue. That settled her nerves somewhat.

Within ten minutes, he came across to the pair and offered another bathroom break. Grace followed him down the hall. When she returned some five minutes later, she looked apprehensive.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked.

Grace looked across to the tall and muscular guy, who was leaning against the wall by the table with his arms crossed. "Don't freak out on me—" that was never a good way to start, "—but he does know."

Stella listened as she explained what happened. Grace told her the tall and muscular guy got a moment with her in the bathroom and asked if she took them. Grace denied several times, but he was relentless. He caved after saying he had thought about it and realised he had other options—he didn't even want to kidnap them in the first place—and he offered them something in return: the tweezers for a safe passage. He'd told Grace that, although he was never disclosed on the specifics, the leader wasn't just going to let them go. Stella could only imagine what would happen if they didn't get the money. Grace said the only way he wouldn't tell the leader about the theft was if they returned them to their place in the bathroom.

Stella let out a sigh. Noticing Grace never said what kind of safe passage was offered, she asked.

"He said he'd tell us the way to the closest town."

Stella nodded. He knew they took the makeshift weapon. She knew they were in more danger than they thought. He would tell them the direction to the closest help in exchange for their only weapon, which there'd be a chance they'd need of they were to escape to reach said help. Stella felt the weight on her shoulders, yet she knew what she had to do. Grace had added her input as well, and Stella agreed. It would be in their best interest to put the tweezers back.

* * *

 **anon** \- thank you so much, that means a lot to me!

 **Billy1990ism** \- they're comin'! There's 7 chapters in total (and I'm considering a sequel, more details later!), so only a few more to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A few hours had passed after the tall and muscular guy found out about the missing tweezers, and a couple of hours since Stella had decided to put them back. When he and the man changed shifts with the other two guys, Grace got up to stretch her legs. She casually moved her way closer to the group, where the tall and muscular guy snuck away just enough to inconspicuously toss a small piece of scrunched up paper in her direction. When Grace returned, Stella was eager to see what was inside.

 _Straight ahead, behind house. 25km._

It was written messily with black pen. Grace put it in her pocket.

Stella shuddered at the thought of having to walk for so long, it would take them almost a day in such terrain. But, it was better than the alternative.

It was close to midday when the leader and tall and muscular guy joined with the other two guys. Stella overheard them talking about the ransom money, and then the leader telling the tall and muscular guy to go to the gym. From the way he reacted, Stella figured he didn't know about that plan until then. Fortunately for them, he would fit right in at the gym and not draw any attention to himself.

Stella panicked for a brief moment; since he'd be leaving, they couldn't use him against the others. Their best chance of negotiating was about to leave the building. Clearly, even the well thought out plans didn't always go as planned.

—

Tension had risen in the cabin. The leader received a call from the tall and muscular guy telling him the money wasn't there yet. Their 24 hours were almost up. The man had started to pace while on the phone, speaking angrily under his breath.

Stella looked to Grace. "Is it time?"

They were going to escape. If what the tall and muscular guy had said about the leader having something else planned regardless of getting the ransom, they didn't want to wait around for it to happen.

"Soon," Grace replied quietly, eyeing the man. "We'll wait until he leaves the room. One on one will be easier."

"Okay," Stella nodded.

The man stabbed at the phone, ending the call, and Stella expected him to throw the mobile at the wall. Instead, he threw it on the couch, where it promptly bounced to the floor anyway. Stella tried to stifle her laugh at the mockery. He scooped it up and stormed off down the hall, a crash sounding as a door closed. Stella didn't want to make a move just yet, she thought they should at least wait a couple of minutes to see if they could still hear him inside, or if he'd gone outside. They needed to know his general whereabouts.

When those couple of minutes passed and he hadn't returned, Grace gave a single nod to Stella, and Stella knew what that meant. Her heart started pounding with anticipation and adrenaline. She and Grace slowly rose. The two guys were conveniently sitting with their backs facing the pair. They tiptoed with stealth across the room. Grace signalled with her hands that Stella take the one on the right.

Closing in, Stella grabbed the guy in a headlock, attempting to cut off his air supply so he'd simply pass out and they could avoid a fight, but with his flailing, she got an elbow in the ribs, pushing her back slightly—just that bit too much. He got free, springing from his chair and turning to face her. She ducked an oncoming fist, jumped out of reach from a lunge, and stepped to the side of a kick, but was too late for the punch to the face that made her swing to the side. The guy promptly jumped on her from behind, but Stella used the momentum to push him back against the wall. She elbowed him in the face, feeling a horrible crack, and in the back of her mind realising she probably broke his nose. She grabbed his shoulder, pulling it down and kneeing him in the stomach twice. Taken by surprise, the guy grabbed her around the waist and spun her around so she was pushed firmly into the wall. A sharp breath escaped from her lungs from the hard contact. He reciprocated by punching her hard in the stomach, and Stella automatically doubled over. Her knees almost buckled beneath her when he pounded his fist into her back, which was followed by a knee in the face.

Without fully realising what she was doing, Stella kicked out into the guy's shin, and took those few seconds of distraction to leap across to the bin and reach in for one of the larger shards of glass from earlier that day. By the time she turned around, glass gripped tightly in hand, he was right in front of her. She haphazardly swung the shard in the direction of his face, but he ducked just in time that it would be lucky if it cut the very tips of his hair. She aimed lower next, towards his chest, but he blocked her arm with his forearm and quickly struck the inside of her elbow hard enough that her hand opened and the glass fell to the floor.

A gunshot made her duck, and within the few milliseconds it took her to realise she wasn't hit, she took the opportunity to swing one final strong punch that reverberated throughout her hand, across the likewise stunned guy's head, effectively knocking him out.

She heard the scuffle of Grace and the other guy still fighting and turned around. Stella acted quickly when the guy raised his arm behind him to gain more force to a punch, quickly locking her inner elbow into his and stopping him, trying to pull back. He was stronger than she was, and managed to push her away. Stella lost her hold on his arm, and he hit her across the face with his forearm, knocking her to the ground. She laid there for a moment, dazed. She could still hear them fighting, both grunting with effort. She forced herself up onto her hands and knees, and jumped when the guy's unconscious body thumped down beside her. She stared at him for a moment before standing up, still somewhat dumbfounded that they had just taken down two of the three men. The only one left was the leader, and if he'd heard what had happened then he'd be there then, but he wasn't. He must've gone outside and not into one of the rooms in the hallway. He wouldn't be far away.

Stella was surprised when she saw Grace hunched over on the floor. She rushed over to her, carefully putting her hand on her back and leaning down. "What happened, are you okay?" Grace have a quick shake of the head and Stella looked her over, seeing she was clasping her side, her hands bloody. "Shit." She looked behind her into the hallway, anxious for the man's return, because he not only had a gun, he had the element of surprise. "Grace, we have to go. Now."

Stella helped Grace up, putting her arm around her and guiding her quickly down the hall towards the front door. When she opened the door and pushed through, she was struck with the much needed smell of fresh air. She'd gotten used to the staleness of the cabin. She stopped, looking around. The old car had disappeared, but the one they were brought in was still there. She assumed the tall and muscular guy left in the former, so if the police had the number plates from the car they were kidnapped in, they wouldn't know it was the same people. She definitely underestimated their captors.

The car was just several meters away, and as the two parted to get in, Stella thought it was too good to be true when the doors were unlocked. She removed the steering column panel and started her attempt to hot wire the car. After many failed attempts, she gave up. She didn't want to sit around and wait for their remaining kidnapper to come back when they could be gaining cover and distance in the bush. She looked across to Grace, who looked just as panicked as she herself felt. "We're gonna have to make a run for it. Think you can make it?"

Grace nodded. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Stella didn't bother answering her rhetorical question. She took a deep breath, adrenaline pumping.

"Let's go." She reached for the handle and left the car, pointing to the nearest tree line and running with Grace.

The bush got thick almost instantly, and the trees above created a dark blanket over them. Stella kept running in the directions where it would give them the clearest path, but they still had to jump over fallen trees, and duck as low or protruding branches got in their way. She looked behind her at different intervals, making sure Grace was still there. They needed to get as much distance between them and the cabin as possible. She was relieved every time to see Grace hadn't fallen behind.

Suddenly, Stella felt a huge weight collide with her side and she was pushed to the ground. It knocked the wind out of her, and she was confused for a moment. She didn't have long to feel disorientated, when she felt something start to choke her. She realised it was a person who had tackled her, and that person was the leader. He'd found them. Stella wriggled from side to side, trying to free herself from his chokehold. She grabbed his arms, trying to pry them away, but he didn't budge. She kicked her knee up under him, managing to get him in the ribs, which gave her just enough slack that she was able to pull his hands away and roll to the side.

As she made a move to leap on top of him, she glanced around for Grace and saw her lying on the ground with her back to them. She wouldn't admit it later, but she was worried about her. But there was nothing she could do; she had to deal with the man. She straddled him, punching him in the face a couple of times, but he surprised her by rolling over, taking her with him so their roles were reversed and she was underneath him.

Within seconds of them flipping over, the man had pulled a gun from the back of his pants, aiming it at her head. Stella acted quickly, lunging towards the weapon to try and knock it out of his hands, but he pulled it up just in time, after which using the distance to gain power to hit her across the face with it. Stella tried to ignore the pain but still used it to her advantage, bringing her hands up to her face as distraction while she brought her feet up and around to kick him in the chest, pushing him off her completely and onto the ground. She scrambled to her feet, only to see the man, not deterred, charging at her, and she didn't have time to dodge him as she was once again tackled. In the back of her mind she was fed up with being wrestled on the ground.

Somehow, the gun ended up between the two, and Stella gripped it, desperately trying to turn it away from her and, ideally, towards the man. She struggled, using every bit of energy she had left, but soon enough a gunshot went off. It echoed through the crisp afternoon air, startling nearby birds in their trees. She lay there, stunned, her breath caught in her throat, and she was unable to move. Warmth grew rapidly around her stomach, as well as a burning sensation. She vaguely heard someone call her name but it didn't process; her ears were ringing. She tried to move, but she felt crushed, weighed down.

She was pulled back to reality when the weight was gone, and Grace was in her face. Grace frantically patted her stomach, where blood had now stained her shirt. She brushed off the shell casing and took the gun, and the burning gradually lessened. Stella looked around, saw the man, and realised it was him who'd been shot, not her.

"It's okay, you're okay. It wasn't you. You're not hit," Grace put her hand on Stella's shoulder.

Stella wasn't able to reply.

Grace moved her hand behind her shoulder and encouraged her to get up. "We should keep going."

Stella nodded, still in shock of what happened. She stood up. "Yeah." With Grace by her side, she started walking and didn't look back.

* * *

 **Billy1990ism** \- it's in the works! Early stages but it'll get there :)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Grace..." Stella called ahead to her, feeling out of breath. "We should stop, take a break."

With the adrenaline long gone and no longer dulling them, Stella's aches and pains had made themselves well known, and she had fallen behind Grace. Her head throbbed with every heartbeat, and her legs shook beneath her with every step. Her chest and whole torso hurt with every breath, and the heavy breathing from walking for so long wasn't helping either. She was worried that if she didn't stop now, she wouldn't make it any farther. Grace had started to slow down, too, and they had little light remaining.

"Yeah, okay," Grace agreed, coming to a stop.

Somewhere along the way, Stella was struck with the realisation that they were going in the wrong way if they wanted to follow the tall and muscular guy's directions, and they'd been aimlessly walking in, what she hoped to be, a straight line for what felt like hours. She hoped Grace hadn't noticed, but his note was pretty clear; it was obvious they weren't following it.

Stella tried to hide her pain; she—and Grace—had enough to worry about with Grace's gunshot wound, and she didn't want to trouble her.

As Grace sat down against a wide trunked tree, Stella eased her shirt off, followed by her t-shirt, trying to keep her discomfort from showing. "What are you doing?" Grace sounded sceptical.

Stella chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself. It's for your wound." She slipped her shirt back on, buttoned it up, and sat down next to her. "Can I see?"

Grace nodded, moving her blood stained hand away. Stella lifted her shirt and expected the worst, but was relieved to see it wasn't as bad as she imagined, though still not good—it was a through and through, right on the edge, like a bloody, jagged notch was missing. A few centimetres and it would've missed her completely. It still looked like it was bleeding, but it wasn't severe. She took her bundled up t-shirt and pressed it against the wound, and Grace hissed as she pulled away. "I think it's safe to say you're going to live to see another day with your boyfriend." It came out automatically; she couldn't help it. She looked up at Grace. "Sorry."

Grace shook her head. "Whatever."

"No, really—I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff. It's none of my business."

"That's right, it isn't."

"Grace, I'm sorry. I'm trying here," Stella emphasized.

There was a silence between them for a few moments before Grace said anything. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but," she looked up to Stella, "You're not as terrible a person as I thought."

Stella couldn't help but chuckle.

"Seriously, you've really taken charge and handled the situation very well."

A mixture of embarrassment and pride went through her, and she hoped she wasn't blushing. "Well, don't think this is over just yet. Those guys back there are just knocked out, and when they come to they might search for us. We're not out of the woods yet. Literally."

Grace sighed, "I know."

"Here," Stella gestured for her to hold the t-shirt in place, and then shuffled to sit next to her against the tree, feeling some relief to not have to support herself. "I think we should stay the night. We can continue on at dawn. There's no use in wandering around in the dark."

Grace nodded, agreeing.

The spot they were resting at was nicely tucked away amongst tall trees and thick shrubs. It acted as a buffer against the chilling wind. Being in the open air reminded Stella of what they'd been through and how they were now so close to freedom, but the sough above also reminded her that they were alone and with no direction for help. She was worried they wouldn't find it in time, that they had been walking around in circles or were going in the opposite direction to the closest civilization; she hadn't exactly paid close attention to where they were going when they had made a run for it.

Unconsciously feeling a stinging on her hand, Stella looked down to see a long cut across her palm, and after sifting through her enervated mind, she remembered the glass during their escape. She must've gripped it tighter than she thought. She balled her hand up before Grace noticed.

"How are you feeling?"

Stella tensed up, thinking maybe she saw. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself, to let her guard down while they were still in potential danger. She wanted to stay strong. "Fine, why?"

"I saw you took a pretty heavy beating back at the cabin."

Stella relaxed, opting for a playful reply to casually redirect the subject. "Please, I kicked his arse and then saved your life. You're welcome, by the way."

"M-kay," Grace sounded defensive. "Thank you for 'saving my life'," she added.

The sky had been rapidly dulling since they stopped, and would soon get to the point where only the faint moonlight would illuminate shapes. Stella wished they could make a fire to keep warm, but doing so would accentuate their position, which was the last thing they wanted. From their captors at least. They were on their own in finding help, and it felt like a one in a million chance of help finding them.

—

When Stella woke up, the first thing she felt was warmness on half her face. She opened her eyes and was struck by the sun in front of her. She felt stiff all over, and even though she'd barely moved, most of her body throbbed with pain. The warmth from the sun came through in beams, but only partially hit her. She shivered, watching her breath come out. She slept terribly, for the second night in a row—she woke up several times because she knew she had to be on alert, so every little sound had disturbed her.

She looked across to Grace, who was sitting next to her against the tree, still sleeping. She looked pale, but she just told herself it was from the weather. She nudged her shoulder with her own.

"Grace." She didn't move. "Grace," she tried again, reaching across to shake her arm.

"Mmm," Grace started to stir, opening her eyes. "Yeah?" she looked around, momentarily confused, and then landed her fatigued gaze on Stella.

"We have to keep moving," Stella said, despite not actually moving herself. The swift sunrise had progressively swept the pleasant rays of sunlight to reach more of the pair. Stella tried to relax her shivering and breathing; it was painful enough without involuntarily tensing her muscles. As much as they needed to continue, not only to get more distance between them and the guys they left unconscious, but to also find help—she just wanted to stay in the partial sunlight for a bit longer, to thaw out.

"Surely we have to be close to something," Grace said.

She was right. They'd covered a great distance the previous day, so they were bound to come across something or someone sooner or later. In retrospect, Stella wondered if they had've followed the driveway to the road instead of delving into the brush, if they'd have found help faster. Her stomach grumbling loudly reminded her that she did not have time to dwell on things that could not be changed.

When Grace stood up with the help of the tree, Stella pushed herself to get up as well. She attempted to hide her struggle, the stiffness not helping her case, but she caught Grace looking at her in a certain way that made her think she noticed. "I'm fine," she waved it off, trying to convince herself as well as Grace. She felt worse than the day before, and trying to belittle her own injuries, she reminded herself that if Grace could move on with a gunshot wound, then she could do the same.

"Which way?"

"Uh," Stella looked around, trying to remember which way they came from. The last thing she wanted was to end up back at the cabin. "This way, I think."

"You think? Comforting."

"Hey, I'm trying my best here. I don't see you helping."

"You don't think I'm helping? Stella, I have a chunk missing from my side!"

"I don't care, we're both making sacrifices here. If we want to survive we have to find help, and the only way to do that is to keep walking, which we need a direction for. So please, lead the way."

"Well I don't know the way. For all we know, we could be within a hundred meters of someone and not realise it."

"Look, we're both on edge; we're hungry, tired, sore, but we can't stop now, and we certainly can't revert back to old habits and turn on each other when, right now, we're depending on one another. So, let's just shut up and walk that way." Stella turned and set off with a start, not waiting for Grace to reply.

With their arduous walk ahead, Stella was glad that their exchange had brought the blood to the surface of her skin—it gave her a head start in keeping herself warm enough to move. Her stiffness dissipated as they went on, and both gave her relief and caused more pain. Somehow, it had masked new aches, but eventually they broke through and Stella wasn't able to hide her pain any longer. She felt exhausted. As many times as she told herself to be strong, she couldn't help the moan or wince that came out when there was an obstacle or a sudden change in terrain. Lucky for her, Grace was a few meters behind her and wasn't aware of it.

The bush had become less dense after over an hour of walking. In the distance, Stella saw something flicker brightly between blowing leaves. She stopped, looking at it. As the wind blew the branches about, she could just make out the side of a house at the top of some rolling green hills. She couldn't believe her eyes, it felt too good to be true. Grace stopped next to her, looking where Stella was. "Is that what I think it is?" Stella asked.

* * *

 **Guest** \- yay, thank you!

 **Billy1990ism** \- thank you! Since the next chapter is the last, I'll drop some details on the sequel then.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Stella wanted to run to the house so badly. It was in the middle of a vast clearing; the bush simply stopped at the bottom of the valley. They had to pass a muddy bog at the bottom of the ravine, where water would soon form a river, before climbing a bit higher. The house was so close, she could see someone tending to a garden bed. The flickering she saw before was the sun reflecting off the windows of the stone house.

"Hey!" she tried to call out to the person to alert them of their presence, but it wasn't loud enough. "Hey!" she tried again.

An old man turned around, a spade in one hand and a plant in the other. He dropped them immediately after seeing the pair closer, and stood up. "Rosalind!" he called towards the house, before directing his question to Stella and Grace, "Are you okay?"

Grace spoke. "We're police officers. We need to use your phone, please."

"Of course, of course," his voice was the most comforting thing Stella'd heard for the past three days. He swished his hands through the air, directing them towards the door to the house.

Before they reached it, an elderly woman came out, Rosalind they presumed, and put her hands over her mouth in shock. Stella felt self-conscious all of a sudden; she must look a mess. She knew Grace did. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," Grace said. "Can we use your phone, please?"

Rosalind nodded wildly, waving her hand to follow. "Yes, come on inside, loves."

They followed her and the old man inside, where it smelt of freshly baked pie. Stella's stomach grumbled loudly. Rosalind handed Grace a phone and then disappeared briefly to get some woollen blankets, wrapping them respectively around Stella and Grace. Stella was still cold from the early morning chill, and although the blanket was itchy, she didn't mind a bit. The old man offered them chairs from the table, and Stella gladly accepted. She didn't realise how tired her legs felt until she sat down. She felt the need to pinch herself, to make sure this wasn't just a dream. They'd actually found help. They were safe.

A cup of steaming tea was put in front of her, making her jump because she didn't hear the old man coming. While Grace made the call they'd been wanting to for the last 72 hours, Stella spoke with the old man. "I'm George," he introduced himself, sitting across from her.

It dawned on her that after less than five minutes, she knew both these people's names, yet after two days she never knew their captors. They were very careful. Fortunately for them, not careful enough as they let their guard down.

"Stella," she replied. She knew she probably shouldn't discuss what they'd been through before giving official statements, but she felt her and Grace's injuries would explain themselves. She picked the cup up, her hand trembling slightly, and took a sip quickly to put it back down. "Thanks for the tea," she honestly didn't care what kind it was, she was just happy it was warm and would be a start to quench her thirst.

George nodded his head and smiled in response. "It's the least we can do."

Stella overheard Grace ask Rosalind where they were, and didn't miss the concerned look on George's face. She knew it sounded terrible that they didn't even know where they were. When Grace came to the end of the phone call, Stella looked to her. "Help's on its way," she announced, smiling with relief. "Kerry will meet us at the hospital."

Stella put her head in her hands, gratified. She still couldn't believe it.

"Are you okay?" George sounded anxious.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit overwhelmed. It's been a long few days."

"Honey, you're bleeding," Rosalind said, and when Stella turned around she saw her pointing at Grace's gunshot wound. Her shirt that they'd used to put pressure on had been long gone forgotten along the way, and it had clearly started to bleed again.

"Oh," Grace said, looking at it. "Do you have a...—"

"Sit down, I'll get the first aid kit," she urged, "We should have some dressings in there."

"I'm sorry if we caused you and your wife any troubles," Stella said.

"Don't be silly, not at all," he shook his hands.

Rosalind came back with the first aid kit and gave Grace a handful of gauze pads to use as pressure. Time flew by after that. It was a whole blur. It took less than half an hour for ambulances and police to arrive, where they were taken to the closest hospital. The drugs Stella had been given by the paramedics made her feel rather nonchalant about what was happening around her. She and Grace had undergone numerous tests and were given a lengthy run down of their injuries, and were told they would have to stay overnight for observation, but would more than likely be released the following day.

Kerry arrived after Grace had gone into surgery, and Stella was finally getting a small moment of peace in the ward. Kerry was ecstatic to see her, and later Grace, and to know they were both going to be okay. She told Stella that the rest of TR were coming to see them first thing the next morning.

Connor had come to the hospital as well; he'd been notified by both them and Kerry. Stella suspected that Josh would've been there, too, if it weren't for the possibility of blowing their cover completely. Although the hospital was small, Stella and Grace's beds weren't near each other, and Kerry spent the night between the two. For the first time in the past few days, Stella had the best sleep ever.

—

Stella closed the door, turned the lock, and put her clothes on the edge of the sink. Kerry had brought plain uniforms from the station for both her and Grace to change into when they could leave. As she reached behind her to untie the hospital gown, she thought how thankful she was for the pain killers as they masked most of the pain. The gown dropped away, and as she reached to grab the clothes, her breath was taken away when she caught her reflection in the mirror. She looked like she'd been hit by a truck, angry bruises and cuts were everywhere. She ran her hands over her hair, pushing her fringe back in the process, and exhaled heavily. She looked herself over, hardly recognising her reflection. She hadn't seen herself since she went to the bathroom in the cabin, and numerous more injuries had risen since the bruise to the cheek.

There were a mixture of different coloured bruises on her face as well as cuts and abrasions. A bruise framed her eye, almost connecting to a matching one on the bridge of her nose where there was a deep cut, a few butterfly stitches holding it together. She was told it wasn't broken. There was a scratch coming out from her hairline, and another near her eyebrow. Scattered cuts covered her face, neck, and lower arms from branches she'd snagged during their escape, and there was a cotton ball taped to her arm from where the IV had been. Her torso was simply a canvas for different shades of purple, red, and yellow; her ribs were severely bruised and she'd fractured several.

She put her hands on the edge of the sink, retracting her right hand almost immediately at the tenderness. The cut on her palm from the glass had been dressed, and while tracing the bandage she saw dried blood had embedded itself under her fingernails. She turned the tap on, trying to get it out. After managing to clean some away, she dried her hands with paper towel. She looked down, seeing bruises on her legs as well. Everywhere she looked there was an injury of some kind. She didn't even want to know what her back looked like, but she turned around anyway.

Although she thought the front looked worse, her breath still hitched in her throat. The bruising continued on around her ribs from the front, wrapping around her like a hug, and there was a distinct red mark from the punch to the back she remembered receiving from the first fight. Underneath a bandage on the back of her left shoulder, she'd had several stitches from a laceration where she must've hit a stick or rock from one of the times she'd been tackled to the ground. When she actually thought about it, she noticed the discomfort when she moved her arm. She turned back around, having seen enough.

There was a soft knock on the door, followed by: "You okay in there, Stella?" It was Kerry.

"Yeah," she replied, noticing she'd been in there for a while. "I'll be out in a minute."

She reached for her clothes, trying not to be so surprised every time she saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror. For some reason it was more shocking seeing her reflection than her own skin. After she'd gotten dressed she left the small bathroom. Kerry was waiting for her outside.

"You okay?" she asked again.

Stella nodded, despite suddenly feeling unsettled.

"I can give you a ride home if you want?"

"Actually," Stella paused. "I wanna go see Grace."

Kerry had a slightly dumbfounded look on her face, not because she was shocked to see Stella care about another member of their team, but that she voluntarily wanted to see Grace. "Okay," she nodded slowly. "I'll walk you there."

"Thanks."

It was a short walk away, and when they got to Grace's curtained off room in the ward, Kerry left them alone. Grace was sitting up and there was an IV attached to her arm. She didn't look as dirty nor bloody anymore. Connor wasn't there, and Stella assumed he'd either gone to the cafeteria or went home to get some of Grace's things.

"Hey," Stella greeted her, "Look at you, you're looking better than last time I saw you." A lot had changed since Rosalind and George's house the previous day.

"Yeah, you, too," Grace smiled.

Stella gingerly sat down on the chair next to her bed, only half deliberately groaning on the way down. "Pity I can't say I feel much better. If they weren't in such a hurry to kick me out I would've stayed longer to take advantage of the good drugs."

Grace chuckled.

"I wanted to come see you before I left, make sure you're okay," Stella told her.

Grace smiled widely. "Aw, thanks, Stell. Well I'm good. They say I can go home tonight, they just wanted to be sure in case of infection or something."

"That's great. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. Reckon I'll be out for the next week."

Grace scoffed, "Yeah, me, too."

There was a short moment of silence before they both started to speak at the same time.

"Grace—"

"Stella—"

They stopped, laughing.

"You go," Stella said.

"I just wanted to say thank you again for everything you did over the past few days."

Stella smiled, shook her head, and looked down. "No need to thank me. I couldn't have done it without you." After what they'd been through, Stella really saw a different side of Grace and she wasn't all that bad after all. It would be silly if they didn't have some kind of weird friendship after everything that had happened.

"What was it you wanted to say?"

"Oh, I was just wondering—"

Before Stella got to ask her question, Leon strolled into the cubicle with a huge grin on his face, stopping short of Grace's bed and opening his arms up. "What's this? What is happening?" Stella was confused for a second. "Are you both drugged up? Feeling okay? I stood over there watching for like five minutes to make sure what I was seeing was real."

"What?" Grace asked.

"You're actually getting along," he whispered. "I'm so confused!" he laughed.

Stella and Grace just looked at each other and smiled.

"Get over here," Leon opened his arms up again to Stella, stepping over to her and giving her a hug in the chair. "I'm so happy you're both okay." He hugged Grace next.

Stella saw Josh by the entrance out of the corner of her eye, looking around for them, and then rushing over. She could see he was holding himself back from anything more than platonic affection. "Grace..." he was far too distracted to even notice herself and Leon. "I was so worried. I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm okay, too," Stella couldn't help herself, it was just waiting to be said.

He looked across to Stella, then noticed Leon as well. Stella saw he had a gash on the back of his head, some stitches visible through his short hair. "What happened to your head?" she asked.

"Got knocked out. When I was looking around outside the warehouse I saw a car, but before I got the chance to check it out I was attacked from behind. I woke up in the bushes and the car was gone, no one was around, and you guys were missing. I'm sorry. I was so close."

"Don't beat yourself up, there was nothing you could've done," Stella told him.

"Yeah," Grace agreed, "And we're both okay so that's all that matters."

Josh sighed.

When Kerry came back, a few other members of TR were with her—the rest were on their way. Kerry had explained to Stella and Grace their plan for getting them back. They reviewed the footage shot from their vests, which led them to the identities of the two men that kidnapped them. They later found out their connections to the other two guys, and assumed it was highly possible that they were involved as well. After getting their ransom video, Leon worked on finding their location while the rest of TR came up with a plan. They'd put the money in the locker at the last minute, go undercover at the gym, and await the arrival of the collector. They were going to follow him back to the cabin in an unmarked car, but the tall and muscular guy figured out he was being watched before they had a chance to follow through, so they were forced to arrest him there. He gave up the location of the cabin, where TR and local police rushed to. By then, Stella and Grace had already escaped.

They caught the other two guys trying to hitchhike nearby, and police discovered the car at the cabin had been tampered with. Stella knew the only person that could've done that was the tall and muscular guy. He'd definitely still had some impact on their escape despite them not even going the way he told them to go—he'd helped with the successful arrests of the other two guys. And that she was grateful for. She told Kerry to make sure they went easy on him.

"Did you find the other guy?" Stella asked. "Short grey hair. Kind of tall."

A few people looked at each other, waiting for someone else to talk. Leon spoke up confidently, "Not yet, but we will."

"He was about a kilometre away from the cabin, heading east," she told him, distantly adding, "I shot him."

"Okay," Leon nodded. "That'll help us."

Both Stella and Grace had given their statements to the police earlier, but TR weren't allowed to officially do it due to conflict of interest, so their knowledge was somewhat limited since they hadn't had the chance to talk about it.

The other members of TR had arrived at once, and suddenly the curtained off room was crowded—they would later have to take turns visiting because they were "disturbing other patients" in the ward. Most of them were in uniform, and they said they'd arrived in such a rush because they wanted to see the pair as soon as they could, they didn't have time to buy any flowers or gifts for them. Despite both Stella and Grace saying there was no need, after spending several minutes with them they insisted they go to the ever so convenient florist across the road; they were in a small country hospital that didn't have a gift shop.

Later, the guys came back with a beautiful and colourful flower display for each of them. Having everyone there really took things off Stella's mind, distracting her, and she was so glad that everyone came. She loved how close their team was and how they were always there for one another. She hoped that would never change. Although some of the members weren't exactly close—like she and Grace—they always had each other's back.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you to all those who read my fic, I hope you enjoyed it! As I've said before, I'm planning a sequel, but to be honest I really don't know how long it'll take me to write, since believe it or not, this one took me over 7 months to complete even with every chapter planned out. Plus, I have another fic I haven't completed yet, which I fully intend to finish before starting the sequel. But I've started to plan it out and I will go ahead and write it, but unfortunately it won't be ready for a while. I hope you can have a little bit of patience! Oh, and kudos to anyone who spotted some little hints in the last few chapters that signify this story isn't the end :)

 **Billy1990ism** \- so am I! It was so much fun to write!


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